I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Oct. 25, 1998
By Devlyn Brooks
PARK RAPIDS -- The Northome-Kelliher Mustangs earned the right to advance in the Subsection 29A volleyball tournament Saturday with a 3-0 win over the Laporte Wildcats.
But the win also earned them the right to play the No. 1-seeded Cass Lake Panthers, which have won the last 12 subsection titles.
In game two Saturday, the seventh-ranked Park Rapids Panthers advanced with a 3-0 win over the Red Lake Warriors.
Being the subsection includes 10 teams, Saturday's matches were opening round playoffs to determine who would advance.
Northome-Kelliher coach Liz Dundas said she was confident her Mustangs could win the match, but she admittedly wasn't happy with her team's play.
Both Laporte and Northome-Kelliher exhibited numerous mistakes in their serve receiving, passing and hitting, which made for an ugly match at times.
However, the Mustangs were able to string together series of points when they needed, and Laporte couldn't sustain any momentum.
"I expected to come out with the win," Dundas said, but the inconsistent performance of her players disappointed her. "We need to be on top of our game Monday versus Cass Lake. If Cass Lake is going to beat us, I want to make it difficult for them."
In the first game, the Mustangs started behind 2-0, but responded with three points of their own on two Laporte errors and a Lisa Zelzer kill.
After giving Laporte a point on an error, K-N increased its lead with a four-point string on two Zelzer aces, a Laporte error and a Mary Dreher kill.
Northome-Kelliher closed the first game 15-7 with two strong runs of several points each, mostly earning points on Laporte hitting and serve receiving errors.
Liv Mostad-Jensen and Sarah Buentemeier served the last two strings of points.
The Wildcats scratched back into game two with a couple of kills from junior Melissa Bessler and another from senior Julie Johannsen. But most of their 13 points, including a string of six late in the game, were earned on Northome-Kelliher errors.
The Mustangs, however, eked out a point here and there on Laporte errors, and hung on long enough to win 15-13.
Game three degenerated into an error-ridden marathon with both teams earning few points in the early going, but the Mustangs ended it at 15-10.
Laporte earned only four points with three aces and a kill, with the rest of their points coming from Mustangs errors.
Northome-Kelliher fared better, earning seven points on three aces and four kills.
Magalie Jorgensen had an ace and a kill in the game, Buentemeier two kills and Zelzer two more aces.
The Mustangs will play Cass Lake Monday at Bemidji State University at 6:30 p.m.
Panthers 3, Warriors 0
In the afternoon game of the opening round, the Park Rapids Panthers made short work of the 10th-seeded Red Lake Warriors.
The Panthers beat the overmatched Warriors in straight sets 15-2, 15-1, 15-1.
"We pretty well overwhelmed them," Panther coach Janey Blanchard said.
The entire Panther team saw action in the match, but Heidi Zoller and Sarah Olsonawaski had impressive performances with each smacking down several errant Red Lake passes at the net.
The Panthers play second-ranked Bagley Tuesday at BSU at 6:30 p.m.
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